One vegetarian mom + one omnivore dad and two undecided kids = one [COMPLETED, HOORAY!] New Year’s resolution to create a ‘blended-family’-friendly vegetarian recipe every day—converting traditional family-favorite meals into meatless recipes that even picky kids (and husbands) will love! Stay tuned this year for our journey incorporating more whole foods!

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Creamy Pumpkin Brown Rice {Vegan}

Day 361.

Gasp! 361? Only 4 days to go in this year; unbelievable. As you may have seen over at OAMM, I'm planning to follow along with Kelly's Get Real series in 2012 to help our family make the transition to even more whole foods in our diet, so stay tuned for that in 2012. We're already using a lot of whole foods, but we can always do better. The day after Christmas I definitely needed something I could set and forget. I decided I wanted to try something with rice and pumpkin puree and looked around a bit until I found Creamy Pumpkin Brown Rice. I proteined it up with a cup of white beans and converted it to be made in my rice cooker. I think this is going to be a winner for its sheer simplicity if nothing else. And, BONUS, it uses all whole foods.

Directions
Saute onion in olive oil for about 5 minutes, until translucent. Add all ingredients, except House seasoning, to rice cooker and cook on brown rice setting until cycle completes. Remove bay leaves, stir, season to taste and serve.

The Results
The kids and I went insane for this rice. The pumpkiny flavor was fantastic, but not overpowering and the texture was soft like risotto, but not too mushy. Both kids had seconds, which they had topped with "shaky cheese" (Parmesan). I liked mine without cheese. This rice is a definite repeat.